Apparatus for forming rod of particulate material



Jan. 14, 1969 H. w. MARANO APPARATUS FOR FORMING ROD OF PARTICULATE MATERIAL Sheet Filed Aug- 5, 1966 INVENTOR kFBA-Wr M/l/mm a BY Afi ORNEY Jan. 14, 1969 H. w. MARANO APPARATUS FOR FORMING ROD OF PARTIGULATE MATERIAL Sheet 2 of 5 Filed Aug. 5, 1966 TTORNEY Jan. '14, 1969 H, w MARANO 3,421,520

APPARATUS FOR FORMING ROD OF PARTICULATE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 5, 1966 INVENTOR Z5 /9 Azeamr/Mfl/mm ORNEY United States Patent 3,421,520 APPARATUS FOR FORMING ROD 0F PARTICULATE MATERIAL Herbert W. Marano, Summit, NJ., assignor to Consolidated Cigar Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 570,589 US. Cl. 131-59 Int. Cl. A24c 1 /26* 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to improvements in forming devices and it relates particularly to an improved apparatus for forming a helically Wrapped rod of a particulate material.

An apparatus for the continuous production of cigars and the like is described in US. Patent No. 3,152,595 granted Oct. 13, 1964, to S. Silberman and in copending US. patent applications of S. Silberman, Ser. No. 505,342 filed Oct. 27, 1965, and Ser. No. 566,262 filed July 19, 1966. In the devices described in the aforesaid patent and patent applications, the cigar filler material is delivered to and advanced through a station, in which a binder and a wrapper in the form of bands of reconstituted tobacco are helically applied to and about an advancing rod of filler tobacco by an endless applicator band traversing a helical path along and about the advancing rod of tobacco. As described in the above patent applications, the cigar filler tobacco is continuously formed into a helically advancing rod through a rotating feed tube having a rotating axial feed screw, air advantageously being fed into the feed tube along the length thereof and emerging from ports formed in the wall of the feed tube adjacent its discharge end. While the filler tobacco feed and the rod forming mechanisms described in the above patent and patent applications operate in a highly satisfactory manner when employed in the production of cigars or tobacco rods of more than a predetermined minimum diameter, the aforesaid tobacco feed and rod forming mechanisms leave Something to be desired when employed in the production and feed of tobacco filler rods of a diameter less than the aforesaid minimum.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved feed device for particulate material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for continuously forming and advancing a rod of a particulate material.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for producing a helically wrapped rod of tobacco.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the continuous production of cigars, cigarettes and the like.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the above nature characterized by its simplicity, ruggedness, reliability and adaptability.

The above and other objects of the present invention 3,421,520 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 will become apparent from a reading of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of an apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 55 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan view, partially in section, of the leading section of the apparatus illustrating the formation and wrapping of a rod of tobacco;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the trailing section of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 10 is a front enlarged view of the feed tube thereof; and

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken along line 1111 of FIGURE 10.

In a sense, the present invention contemplates the provision of an apparatus for producing a helically wrapped rod of a particulate material comprising a tubular feed nozzle rotatably supported about the axis thereof and having inlet and discharge openings at opposite ends, means for directing a flow of air into said nozzle having a tangential component and an axial component directed toward said discharge opening, means for rotating said feed nozzle, and means for feeding a particulate material to said inlet opening. According to one form of the apparatus of the present invention, the trailing section of the feed nozzle is journalled in a mounting block in end-toend engagement with a tubular air inlet member provided with peripherally spaced nozzle defining air inlet bores extending from the outer face thereof circumferentially and longitudinally forwardly to the inner face thereof, the air inlet member being surrounded by an annular plenum chamber connected to a source of pressurized air. Air outlet ports are formed in the wall of the front section of the nozzle which registers with a bore in a leading guide block and means are provided for feeding overlapping binder and Wrapper bands helically about the nozzle in superimposition on the air outlet ports and longitudinally advancing the bands along the nozzle, for so feeding a single wrapper band. As an alternative the air inlet bores may be formed directly in the trailing section of the feed nozzle. The bore of the feed nozzle may be provided with a thread to great advantage.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIG- URES 1 to 8 thereof which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention as applied to the continuous production of a rod of filler tobacco helically wound with overlying binder and wrapper defining bands of reconstituted tobacco or with a single wrapper defining band, reference numeral 10 generally designates the improved apparatus which includes a leading winding or band applying section 11 and a trailing tobacco rod forming or feed section 12. Winding section 11 comprises a base or support block 13 having a fiat top face and provided in its front face with a medially located rectangular recess 14 extending for the full height thereof.

Superimposed on the rear trailing corner of base 13 and screw fastened thereto is a first guide plate 16 of approximately right triangular configuration having an inner diagonal edge 17 positioned between the upper and lower faces thereof. The end face 18 of guide plate 16 extending upwardly from edge 17 is of concave arcuate transverse cross-section of about 90 and extends diagonally from the trailing face of base 13 toward the opposite corner thereof, and the end face 19 of guide plate 16 extending downwardly from edge 17 is likewise of concave cross-section and extends laterally. The leading rear corner of plate 16 is cut off to expose the corresponding top face of base 13.

A second guide plate 20 is superimposed on the leading front corner of the top face of base 13 and is screw fastened thereto and includes an undercut trailing section 21 above and in registry with recess 14 and having a horizontal underface 22 above the level of edge 17 of guide plate 16. The inner edge 23 of plate underface 22 is spaced transversely from and above edge 17 to delineate therewith a band inlet opening 24. The inner end face 26 of plate section 21 extending upwardly from edge 23 is cylindrically concave and coaxial with end face 18. A well or recess is formed in the underface of guide plate section 21 and has nested therein a low friction plastic insert 27, for example a fiuorinated polyethylene, whose underface is coplanar with that of the section 21. A guide block 28 extends across the upper faces of plates 16 and 20 and is provided in its underface with a cylindrical groove 29 coaxial with and of the same radius as the arcuate faces 18 and 26 to delineate therewith a diagonally extending circular bore 30 open at its ends and provided with the side inlet opening 24 and with an outlet opening at the leading rear side of the bore 30.

A positively driven friction roller 32 is positioned with its upper rear periphery in confronting registry with the arcuate surface 19 and with its top edge at the level of the guide plate edge 17 and directly below the underface of insert 27 A flexible endless band 33 is positively driven and extends over roller 32 through opening 24 and traverses a helical path of about 360 along the inner face of the bore 30 and leaves the bore through the roll outlet opening as described in the above identified Silberman patent.

Feed section 12 includes a body member 34 trailing winding section 11 and having a longitudinal bore 36 formed therein coaxial with bore 30 and extending from an angularly disposed vertical trailing face 37 to a transversely extending vertical leading face 38. A passageway 39 is formed in the rear trailing section of body 34 at an angle to bore 36 and extends between a trailing side section of bore 36 and a trailing face 40 of body member 34 transverse to passageway 39. An endless belt 41 includes an upper run advancing from body member face 40 along the base of passageway 33 past the trailing end opening of bore 36 so as to convey a particulate material, for example filler tobacco T, to the feed or trailing end of bore 36 in the manner described in the above identified copending application Ser. No. 505,342.

A slot 43 is formed in body member 34 shortly rearwardly of the front face 38 and extends across the bore 36. An annular cavity 44 coaxial with and of greater diameter than bore 36 is formed in body 3 rearwardly of slot 43. Cavity 44 communicates by way of a transverse bore 46 formed in body 34 with a suitably coupled pipe 47 which in turn is connected to an adjustable source of compressed air. A thick walled tubular air guide member 48 is housed in and extends along the length of cavity 44 coaxially with bore 36, the ends of the air guide member 48 engaging annular recesses formed in the inner end faces of the cavity 44 and fixed in position therein by a lock screw 49 engaging a tapped transverse bore in the body 34 and bearing on air guide member 48. A plurality of circumferentially spaced nozzle defining air pas sageways or bores 50 are formed in member 48 and extend from the outer face of said member inwardly, forwardly and circumferentially so as to be directed into the axial bore of the air guide member 48 forwardly and tangentially in common directions. Thus, when compressed air is introduced into the annular plenum chamher delineated by the walls of cavity 44 and guide member 48 through passageway 46, the air flows as jets through nozzle passageways 50 to produce a forwardly directed air vortex from and coaxial with the air guide member 48 effecting a suction at its trailing opening.

An elongated feed tube 51 having an axial bore of substantially uniform diameter projects forwardly of the body member 34 through the winding section bore 30, said feed tube 51 being coaxial with the bore 30 and bore 36 in body member 34. Feed tube 51 includes a leading section 52 of an outside diameter somewhat less than the diameter of bore 30 and a trailing section 53 of larger outside diameter, extending along and rotatably engaging bore 36 and extending from just forwardly of body member front face 38 across slot 43 and into close proximity with the leading end face of air guide member 48. The leading portion of feed tube leading section 52 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially and axially spaced air outlet ports 54 and the trailing inner corner of the feed tube 51 is arcuately bevelled as at 56.

A gear 57 is secured to the feed tube trailing section 53 in registry with slot 43 by a set screw 58 engaging a tapped radial bore in the axially projecting hub of said gear 57 and bearing on the feed tube section 53, the gear hub spacing gear 57 from the front face of the slot 43 and a spacer ring 59 separating the trailing face of gear 57 from the trailing face of slot 43. A suitably driven gear 60 engages gear 57 to rotate the gear 57 and feed tube 51. An injection or spray nozzle 61 trails and is coaxially directed toward the trailing opening of bore 36 and is connected to a source of fluid which may include water, flavoring materials and the like, which it is desired to admix with or treat the filler tobacco.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus described above, pipe 47 as noted above is connected to a source of compressed air which enters the annular plenum chamber through the passageway 46 and from the plenum chamber the air passes through the nozzle passageways 50 as jets into the bore of guide member 50 to establish a forwardly directed air vortex extending from air guide member 48 into the bore of feed tube 51. The air vortex produces a high suction at the trailing opening of bore 36 to draw the filler tobacco T from the advancing feed belt 41 and compact and convey the filler tobacco along the length of the feed tube 51 to the discharge end thereof. A Wrapper defining band W of reconstituted tobacco is led onto the band 33 and a binder defining band B of reconstituted tobacco is led into superimposition onto the band W and rearwardly offset relative thereto in the manneidescribed in the aforesaid Silberman patent and patent applicaton. Endless band 33 helically winds the wrapper and binder hands about the feed tube 51 and advances the resulting helically wound tube of bands B and W along .beyond the leading end of feed tube 51, the helically wound tube being filled with tobacco T fed by the air vortex through feed tube 51 out of the discharge leading end thereof. The air producing the vortex travels toward the outlet ports 54 along the inside face of feed tube 51 and thence through outlet ports 54 and rearwardly between the helically advancing bands W and B and the outside face of the feed tube to the atmosphere. The air travelling along the inside and outside faces of feed tube 51 serves as an air bearing for the rod of tobacco advancing along the feed tube 51 and the bands W and B advancing helically along the outer face of feed tube 51. It should be noted that an adhesive may advantageously be applied along the inside forward border of the band W in any suitable manner to effect the cohesion of the bands W and B into a tube. While the air vortex in the illustrated embodiment advances in a counterclockwise direction, the passageways 50 may be oppositely angularly oriented to produce an air vortex advancing in a clockwise direction.

It will be understood that a single wrapper band W may be spirally wound about the rod of tobacco.

In FIGURES 9 to 11 of the drawings, there is illustrated another embodiment of the present invention which may be employed to great advantage and diflfers from that first described in the construction of the feed tube and the mechanism for establishing the air vortex. As in the first described embodiment, there is provided a leading winding section (not shown) similar to the winding section 11 and a feed section 65 which trails the winding section.

Feed section 65 includes a body member 66 substantially similar in construction to body member 34 and having a longitudinal bore 67 of reduced trailing crosssection formed therein, the trailing end of which bore is associated with a conveyer belt for delivering the filler tobacco thereto. A transverse slot 68 is formed in the leading part of the body member 66 and an enlarged plenum chamber defining cavity 69 is located in body member 66 rearwardly of the slot 68 and coaxial with bore 67. Conduit means are provided for connecting the cavity 69 to a source of compressed air.

An elongated feed tube 70 includes a leading section 71 and a trailing section 72 of enlarged outside diameter rotatably engaging and mating the enlarged section of bore 67 and extending from a point forward of the leading face of the body member 66 to a point shortly trailing cavity 69. Annular grooves are formed in the face of bore 67 on opposite sides of cavity 69 and engage O-rings 79 which engage the peripheral surface of the tube section 72 to provide a substantially airtight seal. A gear 72 registering with slot 68 is affixed to the feed tube rear setion 72 and is engaged by a driven gear 74 to effect the rotation of feed tube 70. Feed tube leading section 71 projects through the winding section, as in the first described embodiment, and is provided adjacent its leading end with a plurality of circumferentially and axially spaced air outlet ports 76.

Feed tube 70 is provided with a longitudinal bore 77 of uniform diameter which has formed along the length of the surface thereof a multiple thread 7 preferably of the square type. There are four threads in the illustrated embodiment and the threads are right hand and have a lead or helical angle of advance of 45. Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment, the feed tube is rotated counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 10. Thus, the rotating feed tube .by reason of threads 77 tends to advance the tobacco along the length thereof where the tobacco is not rotated at its outer surface in the feed tube synchronously with or at a greater counterclockwise rate than that of feed tube 70.

Formed in the feed tube trailing section 72 in the area of the cavity 69 are a plurality of circumferentially spaced nozzle defining passageways or bores 80 which extend from the outer to the inner face of the feed tube section 72 at about the same angle as the lead of the screw threads 77, that is about 45. Thus, jets of air are directed by bores 80 forwardly at an angle of 45 along the face of bore 77 to produce a forwardly directed clockwise rotating air vortex along bore 77 to draw the filler tobacco delivered to the trailing end of the feed tube 70 into and along the length of said feed tube. The clockwise rotation of the air vortex provides a corresponding rotation of the filler tobacco in feed tube bore 77 relative to threads 78 whereby to effect a screw advance of the tobacco through said feed tube 70. The forward movement imparted to the advancing tobacco as well as the rotation thereof about the axis of the feed tube 70 may be regulated .by adjusting the pressure of the air in plenum chamber 69. It should be noted that the directions of the feed tube rotation, screw threads and air vortex may be reversed. Moreover, feed tube 51 of the first embodiment may be internally threaded in the manner of the feed tube 70.

The operation of the apparatus last described is similar to that first described except for the contribution of rotating threads 78 to the advance of the tobacco and the effect of the air vortex thereon as described above.

While there have been described and illustrated preferred embodiments of the present invention it is apparent that numerous alterations, omissions and additions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for producing a helically wrapped rod of a particulate material comprising a tubular feed nozzle rotatable about the axis thereof and having longitudinally spaced inlet and discharge openings and an air outlet port formed in the wall thereof rearwardly of said discharge opening, means for directing a flow of air into said nozzle having a tangential component and an axial component directed toward said discharge opening, means for rotating said feed nozzle, means for guiding a band along the length thereof in a helical path about said nozzle and overlying said outlet port and advancing said band along said nozzle toward the discharge end thereof, and means for feeding a particulate material to said inlet opening.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said feed nozzle has a helical thread along the inner face thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said air flow is directed along the direction of said helical thread.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said air directing means comprises an air guide member trailing and communicating with said feed nozzle and having a bore formed therein coaxial with said feed nozzle and an air passageway extending from the out-er face of said air guide member forwardly and transversely into said air guide member bore, and means for connecting said air passageway to a source of pressurized air.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said air guide member is stationary.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said air guide member is integrally formed with said feed nozzle and is rotatable therewith.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said feed nozzle has a helical thread along the inner face thereof and said air passageway extends substantially in the direction of said thread.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, including means for directing a fluid spray toward said inlet opening.

9. An apparatus for producing a helically wrapped rod of a particulate material comprising a tubular feed nozzle rotatable about the axi thereof and having longitudinally spaced inlet and discharge openings, means for directing a flow of air into said nozzle having a tangential component and an axial component directed toward said discharge opening and including an air guide member trailing and communicating with said feed nozzle and having a bore formed therein coaxial with said feed nozzle and a plurality of circumferentially spaced air passageways extending from the outer face of said air guide member forwardly and transversely into said air guide member bore, means defining an annular chamber surrounding said air guide member and connected to a source of compressed air, means for rotating said feed nozzle, and means for feeding a particulate material to said inlet opening.

10. An apparatus for producing a helically wrapped rod of a particulate material comprising a tubular feed nozzle rotatable about the axis thereof and having longitudinally spaced inlet and discharge openings, means for feeding a particulate material to said inlet opening, a mounting block having a longitudinal bore formed therein and rotatably supporting said feed nozzle coaxially with said longitudinal bore, with the trailing end of said nozzle communicating with said longitudinal bore, said mounting block having a chamber formed therein, means for connecting said chamber to a source'of pressurized air, air directing means comprising an air guide member positioned in said cavity and trailing said feed nozzle and having formed therein a longitudinal bore communicating and coaxial with said feed nozzle and a plurality of circumferentially spaced air passageways extending from said chamber forwardly and transversely through said guide member into the bore therein, and means for rotating said feed nozzle.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said air guide member is integrally formed With said feed nozzle.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said feed nozzle has helical threads located along the inner face thereof and said air guide member is integrally formed with said feed nozzle and said air passageways extend along directions substantially tangential to said threads.

13. An apparatus for producing a helically Wrapped rod of a particulate materialv comprising a tubular feed nozzle rotatable about the axis thereof and having longi- 1 tudinally spaced inlet and discharge openings, means for producing an air vortex coaxial with said nozzle including means for directing a flow of air into said nozzle having a tangential component and an axial component directed toward said discharge opening, means for rotating said feed nozzle, and means for feeding a particulate material to said inlet opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,836 6/1881 Norriss 13159 2,315,079 3/1943 Reeves 302-5O 3,018,781 1/1962 Eissmann 131-64 3,058,474 10/ 1962 Banning 131--59 3,096,772 7/ 1963 Korber 13164 X HUGH R. CHAMBLIE, Primary Examiner. 

